Metascore®Mixed or average reviewsbased on a weighted average of allcritic review scores.

30

out of 100

Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

The Shaggy Dog is paint, or more appropriately here, pant by the numbers. It also manages a one-two punch -- it will upset small children and bore their parents. There's just no other way to say this: Disney, that movie of yours is a dog.

50

out of 100

Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

It says something for Robert Downey Jr. that in a movie where a man becomes a dog, Downey creates the weirdest character.

The star (Allen), unleashed, is so energetic in his approximation of a bearded collie -- his nose sniffing the air, his whole being (which toggles between human and canine form) overcome by the need to fetch any stick thrown -- that his slobbery charm carries the picture.

Parents need to know that because this story involves animals, there's a lot of butt-sniffing and slapstick jokes. While no animals are harmed, an injection with a large needle and cattle prod are used to threaten them and -- since he's a dog --Tim Allen. Allen inadvertently appears nude in front of the courthouse (although no nudity is shown) and mutters, "Everyone's gonna need therapy after this."

Families can talk about what it would be like to live, albeit briefly, as someone or something else. If your kids could transform into anything, what would they pick and why?

For the more adventurous, you might ask what your kids think aboutcruelty in animal testing, which the teenage daughter is activelyprotesting. Are there ever circumstances when it's necessary to test onanimals?

The good stuff

Messages: Bad behavior is met with consequences.

Role models: Dave begins the film with his priorities out of whack, but with the intervention of a little animal chaos, straightens him right out, and reminds him what is really important in his life.

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